Eye For An Eye
by Little Miss Jigsaw
Summary: Sara Sidle is attacked, and nearly killed, and a cryptic message is left by her attacker. Now the race is on to find the man, before he comes back to finish off Sara, or even, Grissom. Set a little while after the end of Season 6
1. Chapter 1

So beautiful. Even covered in blood, Sara was beautiful. I held on to her bloody hand as the paramedic tried to stop the bleeding. Sara stared up at me, though I wasn't sure is she really saw anything. She squeezed my hand so hard, I began to fear that my fingers may break. I never knew she was that strong. I heard the paramedic swearing fluently, and I turned to see what was wrong. 'Idiot! What's wrong is Sara is bleeding to death!' I mentally screamed at myself. The paramedic notices me looking at her, and starts to speak.

"I just can't figure out why this won't stop... or why she's even still alive."

I wished I could unhear that. What if Sara couldn't be saved? What if she died... God, I needed to stop thinking like that. First Jim, now Sara... Were the people I was close to cursed?

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2 hours earlier

I was just arriving home, after a night at Grissom's. Ever since Brass had been shot, almost all of my nights had been spent with Grissom. It had quickly become a habit to drive to his home after work, instead of mine, and we both fell into the routine comfortably. Somehow, none of our friends had noticed anything, or, if they had, they hadn't said anything. I unlocked the door, and went into my apartment. The first thing I noticed was that none of the lights were on. I always left at least the living room light on, so that I didn't have to stumble through the dark when I got in late.

I was heading for the lightswitch when someone grabbed me from behind and dragged me through the kitchen into my bedroom. I kicked an screamed all the way, knocking things over. And right then, the thing I had been thankful for most about this apartment became a horrible thing. The walls were virtually sound-proof. No one would be able to hear me. My assailant threw me onto my bed, and I remembered something Grissom had once told me: "All of us CSIs have crimes that we just can't stand to see, and that we wish we'd never have to see again."

That was true. Catherine's worst were the cases dealing with little girls or the exotic dancers that sometimes got into trouble, Nick, poor Nicky's was sexually abused children, particularly boys. Warrick, Greg, and Grissom's were cases dealing with any crime against children. And mine? Mine were the rape cases. And from what I'd seen, all of us feared that we would have to live through the cases we thought were worst, although Nick already had lived through his.

When my attacker threw me on the bed, the only thing that went through my mind was that I was going to end up like so many other women had, many of them, I had delt with. But instead, the man shoved me to the floor, and kicked me. It didn't matter, anything was better than having to suffer through the horror that so many others had. He kicked me again, and again, and then started using his fists to hit me. He ripped at my clothes, and I heard my cell phone clatter across the floor. When he had enough of my skin exposed, he dug his fingernails into my skin, creating deep gouges in my chest. I returned the favor, and raked my nails across his throat. It didn't seem to phase him. The more I kicked and clawed at him, the harder he hit me. Though he never once touched my face.

I don't know how long he beat me. To me it seemed like an eternity. But eventually, he got up, and pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket, and slipped them on. Then he turned, and left the room. I lay on my side, barely able to move. My ear was to the floor, so I could hear something vibrating. My phone! It lay no more than a foot from me. I glanced back towards the door, and reached for it. I only had time to flip it open before the man came back. I heard Grissom's voice coming through the phone, but I couldn't reply. I was frozen in fear by the way the man was looking at me, and the way he turned one of my kitchen knives in his hand.

"What're you doing?" I said, hoping Grissom would hear.

"It's time for you to say good night, Sara." said the man, as though he wanted to be heard as well.

"Sara!" I heard Grissom's voice say.

The man's gaze flicked towards the phone, and he grinned. "Good girl. You did just what I'd hoped you would."

He approached me, knife held towards me. I backed up, sobbing, in pain and fear. When he buried the knife in my side the first time, I screamed. Then the second time, I screamed again. I heard Grissom yell my name one last time before my whole world went black.

I don't know how long I was out, but when I woke up, I could hear sirens wailing, and I heard a woman cursing, and I felt someone holding my hand. I ached all over, and it was hard to breathe. I managed to open my eyes, to see where I was. What I saw was the blue eyes that I had come to love over the years, and even more, in the past few months. I squeezed Grissom's hand once, so hard he winced, and then, I fell back into unconciousness.

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I saw the mess that was Sara's room, and almost vomited. All that blood... It wasn't that I had never seen things like this before, worse even... It was that that blood belonged to a friend. Appearently, despite succeeding in not throwing up, I didn't succeed in not looking sick, for Nick spoke to me, looking worried. 

"You okay, Greggo?" he asked, using Sara's nickname for me, "You can go outside if you need to. Rick, Cath and I can do this."

I shook my head. I wanted to be a part of catching the man who'd done this to our Sara. I walked further into the room, wondering where Griss was. "Hey, Rick, where's Grissom? I'd've thought he'd be the first one here..."

"He was," Warrick replied, "He's the one who called it in, and got an ambulance for Sara. He went with her I think."

I said nothing in reply. I simply looked at the wall he'd been photographing. I wished I hadn't. Written on it, in Sara's blood was the message "An eye for an eye, Grissom". So, who ever had done this, had done it only to get to Grissom. That made me even more angry. Using people to get at someone else always did that... But Sara? Why Sara? Not that I would have been any less upset by it, but wouldn't Brass have been a wiser choice? He was Griss's best friend.

Unless the person had caught on, like everyone at the lab had, to Grissom's attraction to Sara? That was a possibility. Well, maybe not everyone... Nick had yet to catch on, but Nick was never the most observant when it came to Grissom. Sara maybe, but not Grissom.

Catherine was busy dusting the room for prints, and was getting alot. Most of them were going to be Sara's, but we had to be thorough. Seeing no work for me in there, I went to the living room. On the coffee table sat a box, that had obviously once been locked, but the tiny padlock sat next to ot it, broken. The box lay open, and there were photos all over the table, around it. Stuck to the side of the box was a sticker, that read "S. Sidle". I was surprised to see that many of the photos were of Sara and Grissom together. I recognized many of the locations, since most were various casino-restaraunts, or the many parks in Vegas. Some had been taken in Sara's home, others in Grissom's.

Why had the perp. done this? Why lay out the pictures like this? I took a glance inside the box and saw that there was a small camcorder in there. I reached in and pulled it out, and decided to see what was recorded on it. What I saw, I'll never forget.

The camera had been placed so that it had a clear veiw of all of Sara's bedroom. For a moment, there was nothing there, then Sara was thrown into veiw. The sounds of her yells, emitting from the camcorder drew the others into the room to see what was going on. Her screams and pleas as she was beaten were going to give me nightmares. By the time I watched the man stand up, and slip on a pair of gloves, I was ready to throw the camera across the room. Sara was reaching for something, her phone, looked like. She didn't get to talk to whoever it was, for the man came back into the room. Something he was holding made Sara back away in fear. 

"What're you doing?" Sara asked.

"Time for you to say goodnight," the man replied.

Another voice, that I couldn't quite make out, said something. Her phone, I realized. That was how Grissom had known what was going on.

Sara's scream when the man stabbed her the first time was heart-wrenching, the second brought a feeling of pure rage. All I wanted to do was find the man and kill him. I think all of us were feeling like that right then. Sara made no more noise after that, I think she was unconcious. Ten times, that man stabbed her. It was no surprise now, that there was so much blood. I watched, wishing I wasn't, as he wrote that message on the wall with the blood all over the floor. Then he pulled something out of the front of his shirt, and slipped it over his face. He approached the camera, and I saw that he was wearing a plastic mask. 

"I hope you've enjoyed watching this, Grissom. I know I certainly enjoyed watching my sister slowly die in prison. You know, that hell became so unbearable for her that she eventually killed herself. I've left the lovely Sara here alive, for now, so that you can have the privilage of watching her die. And if the pain doesn't drive you so mad, that you kill yourself eventually, I'll be along to finish the job. Or Sara, if she lives. Toodles."

The recording stopped there, and I was glad it did. I don't know how much more of it I could have taken. 

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I sat and waited and waited in the hospital lobby. Waiting for news on Sara... my Sara. Be it good, or bad. It seemed like an eternity later that the doctor came into the lobby, and beckoned me over to him. Somehow, from the look on his face, I doubted the news was good.

"Well, we got her bleeding stopped, and we moved her to ICU," he paused for the longest time, then asked, "Are you a family member?"

"No," I replied,

"Are you her husband?"

"No," I said again, wondering what this was about, "I don't know what you'd classify our relationship as-"

"But you are sexual partners?" he cut me off.

I found this to be a rather personal question, but I answered anyway, "Yes."

He looked for a moment as if he'd been hoping I would say no, "Then you should know, Miss Sidle was pregnant. She was several months along ,so she must've known..."

The shock was enough to make me momentarily speechless. I knew my mouth was open, but I didn't care. "wh- what do you mean 'was'?" I managed to say, though I knew the answer.

"I assume she hadn't told you..." he muttered, then spoke in a serious tone, "You see, Mr. Grissom, with the extent of her injuries... It's a miracle even she survived, there was no way the child could have survived the beating she took, and the stab wounds."

I sighed. I had known that was coming, "How is she doing?"

"Right now? She's concious, and able to speak, but you should know, Mr. Grissom, the odds of her making it through the next couple of days are slim. I know it may not be the easiest thing to hear, but she may not live through the night. If she can survive through the week, she should be fine. But she has to make it through the week."

I stood in the door way of Sara's room, looking at her. She was propped up on a pillow, head tilted back, eyes closed. I leaned on the door frame, and waited for her to notice me. It took only a few moments for her to notice that she was being watched, for her eyes suddenly snapped open, and she turned her head in my direction. She might have smiled, were these different circumstances. Now, however, all she managed was a small twitch of her lips. I went to her, took her hand. She gave my fingers a gentle squeeze as I sat in the chair near the bed.

"What's the damage?" she asked, drowsily.

I looked at the clipboard that lay on the table next to me, and read it aloud. " 'Four broken ribs, internal bleeding, massive external bruising, ten stab wounds; four to the left side of the ribcage, five to the right, and one to the stomach." I saw her go even more pale than she already had been at the last, but she nodded at me to continue, " 'massive bloodloss. Subject was 3 months pregnant. Injuries sustained killed the fetus.' "

She looked at me for a moment as if she might cry, but she held it in, and said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know for sure myself until about a week ago... Well, I guess I did, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I wasn't sure of even how to tell you, or how you might react, or even what we'd do..." she paused a moment, and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, "I guess we don't have to worry now, but still..."

I could tell my approval had been important too her, and for a moment, I almost thought about telling her she would have been given it. But I stopped myself, truth be told, I wasn't sure how I might have reacted, had she told me, and if this hadn't happened. All I could do was give her a quick, and what I hoped was comforting kiss.

When I sat back down, she let the tears out. "I was so scared," she sobbed, "When he grabbed me, and dug me into my room, the only thing I could think of was that he was going to rape me... I was so afraid of that one thing, that I was almost glad when he just beat me... And when I got to the phone, and heard you, I started to have some hope that I would get out of it alive. But then he came back in with that knife, and all I could think was that the last you were ever going to hear from me was screams, while he killed me, and that I was never going to see you again, or the others..."

She stopped there, and simply cried. I sat on the edge of her bed, and embraced her gently, noticing with a rising feeling of anger, the bruises that covered her body, all the way up to her neck. Who ever had done thing was going to pay. That much I was going to make sure of. And if Sara didn't make it... There was going to be all hell to pay.

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	2. Chapter 2

Just so ya'll know, I like Reviews :P

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"What ya got for us Greg?" I asked, sitting on one of the tables in the lab. Warrick, Catherine, and Brass were there too. Techincally, Brass wasn't supposed to be here, he wasn't allowed to come back to work for another week or so, but none of us had the heart to refuse to let him help out.

"Well," said Greg, "In the way of finger prints in the bedroom, tons of Sara's, more than there should be of Grissom's, most where they shouldn't be," he added, "DNA, again, tons of Sara's. Grissom's, again where it shouldn't be, and no one elses. "

I looked at the others' expressions for how this news affected them, however, not one seemed to have batted an eyelash at Greg's implications that Griss and Sara had been sleeping together. "Am I the only one who's shocked by the news that Sara's bangin' the boss?" I asked.

"Yeah," said all four of the others.

I shook my head, and looked at Greg. He continued with what he'd found, "out of the hairs collected, I found one that was out of place. Mostly 'cuz it ain't a hair. It's synthetic hair, like from a wig, or doll. Other than that, I really don't have anything to give you, whoever this guy is, he's good. Not a single print on anything, and no hair, except the fake one."

We all sighed in frustration. Then I remembered something, "with any luck, I can get a DNA sample. Sara scratched him pretty good, she may have gotten some skin under her nails."

"Nice thinking, Nicky," said Catherine, with a genuine smile.

For some reason that one smile made my heart do a flip. I mentally shook my head, and said thanks. "I'll go to the hospital, and see what I can do. I'll get her clothes from the docs, too."

I turned to leave, when Greg stopped me, "Hey, Nick, wait up. Cath told me to come along... She needs pictures of Sara's injuries."

The drive to the hospital was a quiet one. Neither Greg nor I had anything to say. We were both anxious about the condition Sara would be in when we got there. We asked the receptionist what room Sara was in, and procceeded about the task of actually finding the room, as the woman hadn't bothered to tell us how to get there. When we found the room, we found that Sara already had a visitor. Grissom was there, sitting at the edge of her bed, with his arms around Sara. This was a rather foriegn sight to me, but Greg and I paitiently waited until he noticed us, and laid a sleeping Sara down onto her pillows. We entered the room then, but remained silent for a few minutes after that, still.

"How's she doing?" Greg finally asked. Both he and I looked intently at Grissom.

"The doctor says if she makes it through the week, she'll be fine, but..."

"But?" I asked when he trailed off.

"But he also says that the chances of that are less than 50/50," Grissom said it with such anger in his voice, I almost backed away. Rarely had I seen him get emotional about anything... Then again, this was Sara we were talking about.

"Nick, we're here to collect evidence," Greg reminded me, breaking the uncomfotable silence that had settled over the room.

"Yeah, I remember. 'Scuse me, Griss, I need to get to Sara's hands."

"What for?"

"She scratched the perp., need to check for skin under her nails," I said, forgetting he hadn't known about the recording.

"How do you know that? Did you catch him?" There was something in his voice that said if we had caught the guy, he would have left the hospital in a moment, and no one would have ever seen the assailant alive again.

"No, we didn't," Greg replied, and I saw a disappointed look flash briefly across Grissom's face, "I found a camcorder on the scene... The guy recorded everything, including a brief message to you... He did this to get back at you for something."

"I want to see it," Grissom replied firmly.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Griss-" Greg began, as I scraped Sara's nails. Grissom cut him off, rather angrily.

"I want to see it!"

"It's not pretty..." said Greg, nervously. Grissom was obviously frightening him.

"I'll just go get her clothes from the doc..." I said, having finished my job. I rushed out of the room. When I came back, Grissom had obviously defeated Greg. I was about to ask Grissom if he would mind waking Sara up, when she opened her eyes, and asked what was going on. When Greg told her he was there to take pictures, her expression darkened for a moment, but she nodded in consent, and struggled to sit up. Grissom helped her, being mindful of her injuries.

Once she had the back of her hospital gown open, Greg and I snapped photos, grimacing at the sight of her bruises. Then came the akward part. ALL of her had to be photographed. Sara seemed to know what was next, for she sighed, and said, "Right... May as well get it over with."

Seeing her naked form angered me more than it embrarrased me, considering she was nearly all black and blue, save for the bandages that covered stitched-up knife-wounds. The bandages had to be peeled back briefly, so Greg and I could get photos of the wounds beneath. By the time we were done, I know she was extremely relieved. As we left, I saw Greg glance at something on the table. For a moment, his eyes widened, before he noticed Grissom was watching him closely. After that he was quick to leave.

Once we were on our way back to the lab, he suddenly blurted out what he'd read, "Did you know Sara was pregnant?"

I nearly spit out the gulp of luke-warm coffee I'd just drank, "What? She is?"

"Not is," he said, "Was. Appearently the attack caused to much trauma..."

"Oh... Man, poor Sara. Hell, poor Griss. It had to've been his," I suddenly realized what I was saying, and nearly choked on a second sip of coffee. I didn't quite choke, but I did spit some on Greg, which momentarily distracted him from his driving.

"Ah, geez, man! What was that for?"

"Did you realize what that means?" I asked, "That means Sara and Grissom were gonna be parents... SARA and GRISSOM!" I added to emphasize my point. I appearently succeeded, for understanding suddenly crossed his face.

"Ah... Right..." was all he said.

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I sat with Catherine and Warrick, looking up possible suspects. So far, we had narrowed it down to two. Not bad for a few hours work, if you ask me. Though technically I wasn't working... I was just observing. I wasn't supposed to be working yet.

"Well," said a voice from behind me. I turned to see Nick and Greg entering the room. "The guy's crime should be changed from attempted murder, to murder," Greg concluded.

There was a sharp intake of breath from everyone in the room, myself included. Nick quickly spoke up, "Not Sara!" he said, "Sara's alive."

I sighed in relief, at almost the same time as Cath and Warrick did. "So who, then?" Warrick asked, the relief appearent in his voice. 

"Grissom and Sara's kid," Greg answered, just as I took a drink of the soda sitting in front of me, and just as Warrick took a bite of a beef jerky stick, I inhaled half of the can of soda when I heard Greg's answer, and I saw Warrick choke on the jerky. The liquid I'd inhaled came spraying out all over the table, and Catherine had to get up, and pound on Warrick's back, so he could breathe again.

"Say WHAT!" Warrick and Catherine said, at the same time.

"Sara was three months pregnant, chances are, because of Grissom," said Greg, "The trauma of the attack was too much though, so..."

We were all silent for the longest time, before Catherine finally said, "Right... Well, let's get back to work everybody... The longer we wait, the more chance this guy has to follow through with his plans. Greg, you process what you got from Sara's nails, Warrick, check her clothes, Nick, you take Sofia, and go check out our two suspects, would ya? I'll work on the photos."

I had to admire the way Cath took charge, when Grissom wasn't around. She was probably going to become supervisor once he left. Some might have thought he'd choose Sara, but I knew Grissom better than that. No matter what, he wouldn't pick Sara. The woman would never sleep, and she'd be so hyped up on coffee, she'd kill somebody, or herself. They left me sitting on my own in the room, and I leaned back in my chair, waiting. Eventually someone'd come in to keep me company. Sure enough, a few minutes later, I heard someone say my name.

"Jim, where is everyone?"

I turned in my seat, Grissom was entering the room. "Oh, hello to you too, Gil. They're working the case. How's Sara?"

"She was sleeping when I left," he replied, sitting down, "Doc says she'll be doing alot of that. It's the fact that she may not wake up that bothers me."

"Greg told us." I said, knowing he wouldn't need anymore explanation than that.

"Did he? I thought he would. I didn't know myself until the doctor told me," he said, "I'm almost glad that she didn't tell me... I don't think I'd be waiting for evididence, if I'd known before hand. I'd be out hunting the guy down now. Though, I have half a mind to do that anyway."

"So that means you admit it?" I asked, having expected him to deny any relationship with Sara, "That you've been sleeping with her?"

Grissom looked at me with the stragest expression, as though it hadn't even crossed his mind to deny it, "Yeah, Jim. I do..." he was silent for a few minutes, before he finally said, "Greg told me something about a camcorder found on the scene. I'd like to take a look at it."

"Don't look at me. I'm not involved in the case. I'm strictly observing how things go. I hate it, but I can't do anything about it." I informed him, "Catherine'll know what was done with it though. She's developing photos right now."

Grissom nodded, got up, and left the room, leaving me, once again, by myself.

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Chapter 3 coming soon. Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, chapter 3. Review, please!

I almost couldn't look at the photos in front of me... I had seen worse, yeah. But this was Sara. It was Sara's body that looked like one solid bruise, Sara's body that had been stabbed so many times, Sara's body that had the deep gouges across her breasts from where her attacker had dug his nails in. It gave me comfort to know that she was still alive, but it was still hard. I went through all of the photos, making sure I examined them thoroughly, but not looking at them any longer than I had to.

I was glad when my task was done, but disappointed that I hadn't found anything that would help us with the case. Sighing, I slumped back in my chair, and rubbed my forehead. I could feel a headache coming on. I'd need a tylenol in a few minutes, before it got to bad, and I wasn't able to concentrate. I got up and started to head for the breakroom, where there was always a bottle of pain killers, when I ran right into Grissom. I wasn't quite sure what to say to him, so I decided to let him speak first.

"I'd like to see that camcorder Greg found," he said. "And don't tell me I shouldn't," he added when I started to open my mouth to protest, "Greg already tried that."

I knew when I was defeated, even when it was before the battle had started. I went to get the camera, while Grissom followed. I handed to him, once I'd found it. "Don't say I didn't warn you," I told him, and left. I got my tylenol. I passed back by Greg's lab, and heard his ever playing stereo. Today it was blaring the music of the band "She Wants Revenge"

_I heard it's cold out, but her popsicle melts.  
She's in the bathroom, she pleausres herself  
Says I'm a bad man, she's locking me out  
It's cuz of these things, it's cuz of these things _

Lets make a fast plan, watch it burn to the ground.  
I try to whisper, so no one figures it out.  
I'm not a bad man, I'm just overwhelmed  
It's cuz of these things, it's cuz of these things.

I stood there, long enough to hear the entire chorus, as it was a song I liked, and headed back to where I'd left Grissom. He didn't look happy. In fact, he looked so angry, I was almost afraid to speak to him. He saved me the trouble, for he spoke first.

"I want this guy found," he hissed. I had never heard Grissom sound like that, "I want him found, and I want the evidence to prove that it was him beyond a shadow of a doubt. And he had better hope I don't get a chance alone with him for more than a second, because if I do..."

He didn't further detail what it was he'd do, but I doubted that it was anything good. Frankly, I was hoping Grissom would go back to the hospital, and stay with Sara... I wasn't sure I wanted him working the case in that state. He would end up hurting someone, or get himself arrested. Not that I wouldn't have loved to see the man responsible get torn from limb to limb, but I didn't think Sara would be happy with me if I let Grissom end up in prison. 'What am I thinking? Sara'd be quicker to kill the guy than Grissom would...' I thought. I went back to the lab, where Greg was still blaring music.

I turned down the stereo, in the middle of the chorus of "All my friends are dead", and waited for Greg to realize his music was gone. He turned, obviously about to ask what the big idea was, when he saw me.

"What ya got, Greg?" I asked.

"Ah, right... Well, I got some skin from under Sara's nails, unfortunately, who ever it is, doesn't have a previous record, so I can't find out who it was. But, if you can get DNA samples from your suspects, I can tell you if it's them or not. "

"Thanks, Greg," I said, with a quick smile. He looked relieved at the fact that I wasn't yelling. In truth, I was just about frustrated enough to break something, but that wasn't Greg's fault. I had been hoping we'd get a positive ID on the guy, from the skin... But, he was right. If we could get a dna sample from each of the suspects, we'd know if it was them or not.

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"So, Grissom's taking this pretty hard, huh?" I asked Nick, as we headed for the home of the second suspect. The first hadn't been home.

"Yeah," Nick replied, "He scared the crap out of Greg, at the hospital, 'cuz Greg tried to tell him he shouldn't watch that recording we found..."

I nodded, but said nothing, as Nick pulled the car up in front of a rather nice looking house. The two of us got out, and went up to the front door. Nick rang the doorbell, and it was a few moments before the door opened, to reveal a small, fragile looking woman with waist-length red hair, balancing a small child on one hip, and holding the hand of another, that hid slightly behind her legs. From the matching clothes, I guessed that the girls were twins.

"May I help you?" the woman inquired, tugging the girl whose hand she held, back into the house, as she had tried to run out.

"Mrs. Hopewell?" Nick asked. He continued when the woman nodded, "I'm Nick Stokes, from the Vegas Crime Lab. This is Sofia Curtis, from the P.D. We're here to speak with Adam Hopewell."

"One moment," she said, and turned and left us standing there in the open doorway. She came back a few moments later, this time without the children, "Follow me please."

Nick and I followed her into the house, and to a rather large living room. A tall man, with dark brown hair sat on the couch. He wore a shirt, with a high neck, so it covered most of his throat. I also noticed that the beginnings of a scratch peeked out above the top of the shirt. A little suspicious, I thought. Nick noticed too. I could tell from the way his eyes narrowed for a moment, before he introduced himself, and me. Mr. Hopewell gestured to us, to sit down, and both of us obliged.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Stokes?"

"A friend of mine, a fellow CSI, was attacked, late last night, Mr. Hopewell, and nearly killed. Your sister, Emily, died in prison, didn't she?"

The man gave Nick an odd look, but replied, "Yes, Mr. Stokes, she did. What does that have to do with your friend?"

"The attacker left a message, saying that he did this, because his sister committed suicide while in prison. He's threatened to kill the woman he attacked, as well as someone else."

Understanding dawned on the man, "If you think I had anything to do with it, you would be sorely mistaken, Mr. Stokes. My sister deserved what she got, ten times over. My brother may have worshipped the very ground she walked on, but I didn't."

"Sir, may I ask, what happened to your neck?" I asked, changing the subject.

Another odd look. He pulled the shirt down, though, to reveal four long scratches across his throat, "Some freak jumped me last night when I was leaving work. Ask the security cameras that filmed it."

"Uh huh," I said, "and where do you work?"

"The Lucky Dragon Casino," he was about to say something else, when Nick's cell phone rang. Nick excused himself for a moment, and left the room to answer it. When he came back, he said, "Well, we got a DNA sample from our perp. Sofia."

"Well," I said, "That simplifies matters." I looked at Mr. Hopewell, "Sir, if we could get a DNA sample from you, we'll be on our way."

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So much for that idea. Sara's clothes had been a bust. Nothing on them, other than blood. I could only hope that the others had been more sucessful in their search for evidence. I went to see Catherine, and ask her how the campaign was going, when I saw Grissom storming through the hall, into his office. He didn't even stop to say hello to me. Which could only mean one thing...

"He watch that video?" I asked Catherine, who came along only seconds after Grissom. She nodded, "He's been stalking around like Dracula ever since."

"Ouch," I said, "I'll keep that in mind if I want to talk to him, then."

"Don't bother even trying," Catherine warned me, "he's liable to bite your head off. He was already shouting at one of Ecklie's lackeys."

"Yeah, but that's Ecklie, and his people," I pointed out.

"He's been no nicer to me," she said, "The sooner we solve this case, the better... For all of us."

-------------------------------------

I sat down at my desk, not in the greatest mood. And things, it seemed, weren't going to get any better, for Ecklie saw fit to come in, uninvited. "What is the big idea, Gil?" he said, "you have the entire lab working the Sidle case? There are other cases to be solved, Gil, and other criminals to be caught! We can't have EVERYONE IN THE DAMN LAB WORKING ONE CASE all because YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE SARA GOT ATTACKED!"

At first, I had been planning on ignoring him, until he said the last part. "The big idea, Ecklie? " I said, trying to keep myself calm, "I am trying to catch someone who has not only severely injured one of our team, but," I lost my control, "HAS THREATENED TO COME BACK AND KILL HER! THAT is the big idea!" I didn't bother trying to lower my voice again, "AND I DO NOT INTEND TO LET THE GUY GET THE SLIGHTEST CHANCE TO GET AWAY WITH IT!" I was standing now, and staring at him. I knew he was taken aback, for he lost some of his normal swagger, and air of importance.

He stayed standing there for a moment, then turned and left, slamming my office door behind him. I all but fell back into my chair. I knew I shouldn't have lost my temper, but I wanted Sara's attacker caught, and soon. Not long after Ecklie had left, I heard a tentative knock at the door, and Greg stuck his head in.

"Um, Griss... Front desk says you have a phone call, from the hospital," he ducked back out, and shut the door, but I knew he was listening on the other side. I felt a sudden dread, as what he'd said clicked in my mind. Afraid of what I was going to hear, I picked up the phone.

"Mr Grissom?" said a voice, that sounded familiar for some reason.

"Yes," I replied, trying to keep the worry from my voice.

"This is Dr. Grimwell," said the voice, "I've been put in charge of Sara Sidle's care..."

"...And?"

"Well, she woke up a few minutes ago, and when she saw myself, and one of the nurses, she freaked. The nurse managed to calm her, but she's still slightly jumpy. We would appreciate it if you would come down here, and keep her quiet..."

"Alright..." I replied, a wave of relief washing over me, "But I don't know what goo-"

"I'm sure you'll be doing plently of good, Sir," said the doctor, "since she's been asking for you."

After I hung up the phone, I wasted no time in leaving my office. I noticed that everyone stopped what they were doing as I went by, as if trying to determine what had been said, simply from my expression.  
-------------------------------------

I watched as Grissom walked by the lab, and resisted the urge to ask what the hospital had wanted, but just barely. If something had happened, he would have told us, I was sure.

"Hey, Greg," said Nick, as he and Sofia entered the lab, "I got a sample from one of our suspects. If it matches the skin we got, we've found our guy..."

I took the swab he held out to me, and muttered a quick "I'll get right on it," and turned to get to work, when Nick added something, "Grissom bitten anyone's head off yet?"

"No," I replied, "But he shouted at Ecklie. And you know what a good blow to Ecklie's ego means. "

"Yeah, crappy treatment for us all," Nick replied bitterly, "Thanks Greg."

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	4. Chapter 4

Okay, chapter 4. Hope ya'll enjoy.

Btw, just so ya'll know: I am aware that this does not follow the new season in anyway shape or form... As I am not home to watch it, I don't know what went on in Built To Kill part 1, nor will I get to see part 2. Though I will be watching the rest of the season. However, this story will continue on it's current course, and anything that happens in the new season will not affect the story in any way.

Also, to those who have revieed so far, much thanks to you all. I appreciate that you are enjoying the story. Keep up the reviewing, for future chapters.

NOTE: This is going to be a fairly short Story as it is actaully my first CSI fic, and whenever I write a type of fic for the first time it is generally short... Any I write in the future will be much longer.   
----------------------------

"Hey, Grissom!" I said, as I caught up with my boss, "if you're going to see Sara, I want to tag along."

Grissom turned to look at me, and shrugged. I took that to be a yes, and got in his Tahoe with him. "So what was that phone call about?" At first I thought he wasn't going to answer.  
"Doctor said Sara woke up, panicked, and has been asking for me," he said, his tone void of any emotions.

The drive was a silent one, but it wasn't a comfortable silence. The idea that Grissom was emotionally involved with Sara was still an alien one to me, even if I had seen it coming, for years, and after hearing what Greg had found out, I wasn't quite sure what to say to him, so I didn't say anything. When we arrived at the hospital, Grissom turned off the ignition, but didn't get out of the vehicle. It was a few moments before he even moved.

"I read a book, once, Warrick, that said love, or any emotion, is nothing more than a chemical reaction in your brain," he stopped there.

"I'm going to venture a guess that you don't believe that..." I said. 

"What makes you say that?" Grissom asked. I knew he was testing me, so I made sure I had the best possible answer in my head before I spoke.

"You wouldn't have been so quick to go to the side of a friend, and lover, who needed you, if you believed any feelings you had for her were nothing more than chemicals," I said, carefully.

"Very good," he said, with a nod. He started to open the door, before I stopped him. 

"Griss... You do love her, don't you?"

His reply was so quiet, I didn't quite hear it, but I would have bet anything that it was a "yes". "Have you said as much to her? I think Sara needs to hear the words actually be said by you."

"Those three words, Warrick, are said too much," Grissom replied, slowly, "And, they're not enough..."

He got out of the car then, but I knew he'd eventually say what he felt. Even if it was a while down the road. 

A doctor stopped us, once we were in the building. He was a fairly young man, taller than either me or Grissom, with dark hair. He wore a surgical mask, pulled down over his neck. My guess, he was about to go into a sugery. He said something to Grissom, but I didn't catch what. When I was close enough to hear the conversation, Grissom was asking how Sara was doing.

"Well, she made it through the night, and that was the biggest obstacle. Her chances have gone way up." I notced something like reproach in the young doctor's voice, but it was only there for a moment. I could tell Grissom had heard it too, for his eyes momentarily darkened, but he said nothing.

"Other than her little panic attack, she's been fine..." there was the hint of reproach again. This time though, Grissom didn't notice it. Maybe I was just imagining things. 

------------------------------

"Sorry," I said to Catherine and Nick, "It's not a match... "

"So where does that leave us?" Nick said, with a groan. He seemed to be speaking more to himself that anyone in the room.

"Well, until we can get ahold of the other suspect, no where," said Catherine, "Thanks anyway, Greg."

"Um, there is something you should know..." I said, as the two began to leave, "The DNA from Sara's nails, and the DNA from your suspect were very similiar... I'm going to guess relatives of some kind, a father, or brother."

"Well, I could check, but I think his father's dead..." said Cath.

"Wait, he said something about his brother, worshipping his sister... Think you can find anything on him, Cath?" Nick asked.

"It would help if I had a first name, to go with the last, but I might be able to dig something up. I'll let you know what I find." With thaty, Catherine left. Nick followed. And I was left on my own. With a shrug, I went to see if I could find Warrick, maybe he'd found something from Warrick's clothes.

-----------------------------

I was sitting in the breakroom, having lunch, when I was unable to stop a yawn, that had been trying to get out for a long while. Granted, I hadn't slept since at least forty-eight hours before-hand. The news about Sara had interupted me, when I had been plannign on getting some sleep. After that, I hadn't even thought of sleep... the eighteen hours afterward had been too stressful to sleep. I yawned again, this time though, someone saw me.

"You ought to go home and get some rest, Brass," said Sofia, "You're the only one who doesn't have a job to do right now."

"That's exactly why I'm not going home," I replied stubbornly, "I don't want to be reminded of that fact."

Sofia sat across from me, and tapped her nails on the table. After a moment, she tucked her long hair behind her ears, and looked me squarely in the eye, "Seriously, Jim, go home. There's nothing you can do to help right now, and you're falling asleep on your feet. I've seen you nodding off all night."

I sighed, she was right. But I hated not being able to help in a case, especially when it involved a friend. I sighed again, this time in defeat, and got up, "right, Sofia, you win, this time. But I'll be back."

"Wait until the sun goes down at least," she said as I left, "That'll give you a solid ten hours at least."

---------------------------

I saw Warrick and Grissom walk into the room, and sat up a little straighter. So the nurse had kept her promise, and called Griss... Good. I had been afraid she'd only said it to keep me quiet. 

"Afternoon, guys," I said, trying to sound normal. 

"Hey Sara," said Warrick, "How're you feeling?"

"Like a tenderized steak," I replied, with a sarcastic smile, "Other than that, fine."

"What did you need me for?" Grissom asked. How like him to get right to the point.

"I think I saw the guy," I said, matter-of-factly.

"You think, or you did?"

"I think... I woke up, and saw him... but his hair was different... Not as long, and not the same color...I dunno, I may have been imagining things, but I wanted to be sure..."

"You know," said Warrick, to Grissom, "Greg did say he found a sythetic hair at the scene... Chances are, our perp. was wearing a wig. "

"Yeah," Grissom replied, "But why would he be here, in the hospital?"

"Excuse me," I said, annoyed at being left out of the conversation, "I'm here too, you know. And like I said, I admit I may have been imagining things, but I wanted to be sure." Neither of the men spoke, and I noticed why. They were both trying to hide yawns behind their hands. "Have either of you slept?" I asked, knowing the answer was no. Both nodded. I raised my eyebrows skeptically, and they both shook their heads. "I thought not. You two should go home and get some sleep..."

"You can't talk Sara," Warrick pointed out. "You're the one who stays up for days on end when you can't figure out a case."

"If I weren't bed-ridden Warrick, you'd be a dead man," I retorted, even though I knew what he said was true.

"I'll remember that, when you get out of here," he replied with a smirk.

"If I do..." I said, somewhat bitterly. I instantly regretted when I saw the way the men's expressions suddenly darkened, with worry, and anger. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that... "

"It's alright," said Grissom, but I knew I had upset him, "Anyway, Warrick, we should be getting back to the lab before Ecklie throws another fit. And Sara's right... We, and the others do need to get some sleep."

The two turned to leave, but turned around when I called out to Grissom. "Griss... Wait a minute, please."

Warrick muttered "I'll go see about gettin someone up here as a guard..." shut the door as he left the room. This confused me. Grissom appearently saw this, and said, "He knows... so does the rest of the team," Then he added, in an amused tone of voice, "That's what happens when you let them dust your room for prints, and check for DNA..." He turned serious again, and approached me. Not without an ample amount of pain, I reached out and took his hand when he got close enough, and pullled him down towards me.

When his face was onky a few inches from mine, I released his hand, and caressed his bearded cheek. "Promise me you won't drive yourself mad over this case? Don't be like me, and deprive yourself... You won't do much good if you can't concentrate." He put his hand over mine, crossed the distance between us, and kissed me. We stayed locked together for what seemed like an eternity, before he pulled away, "I promise," he said quietly, then straightened, and left.

---------------------------------

Well, that helped... Not. Things weren't getting better it seemed. I had done the check on Adam Hopewell's brother myself, since Catherine had gone with Sofia to check up on our second suspect. So far, things weren't looking good. He had gone to medical school in New York after the death of his sister, and then had disappeared a year later, without a word to anyone, and no sign of where he'd gone. No body had ever been found, not that had been indentified as Jonathan Hopewell anyway. But he'd never been found alive either. After two years of searching, he had been declared dead.

_You're not dead until they find your body... _I thought, acting on a hunch. It took some time, but I eventually found another record of him, in Los Angeles, from three years after his disappearence. _Well well well. Not gone after all, Mr Hopewell..._ After that though, I couldn't find anything... After that it was as if he really had disappeared. Though my guess was that had been his intention... To comepletely disappear. I was about to check something else, when I heard someone calling me.

"Nick!" it was Grissom, "Nick!"

"What!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"Get in here!"

"Where's 'here'!" 

"The breakroom... Now!"

With a sigh, I got up, and headed for the break room, grumbling. I arrived to see everyone else there, as well excluding Sara. Everyone looked like they were going to fall over at any minute. They looked like I felt. "What'd you want?" I asked, sitting at the table.

"I want everyone to go home for a few hours at least and get some sleep," said Grissom. "Sara's orders."

"Do we have too?" Greg asked, though as he said it, a large yawn escaped him.

"Yeah, we do," said Warrick, "We're all tired." Everyone nodded in agreement.

As everyone was getting ready to leave, I caught up to Catherine, "Hey Cath," she turned when I said her name, "Oh, what's up Nicky?" she asked with a small smile. There was my heart doing flips again. "Um... I wanted to know what happened with our other suspect?"

"Wasn't home again... We checked where he worked too, said he went on vacation a week ago."

"Oh I see. Well, I'll see you later I guess."

With that, everyone left the building

---------------------------------


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5, for ya'lls enjoyment.

---------------------------

I couldn't sleep, no matter how hard I tried to. No matter how tired I was. Sleep wasn't coming. With a groan I got up, and left my room, and headed for the kitchen.

"Mom?" I heard a voice ask, "What's up?"

"Nothing Lindsay," I replied, turning to my teenage daughter, who sat at the kitchen table, "Just couldn't sleep is all."

"Because of your friend?"

She was a perceptive girl, I had to give her that. But Sara wasn't the reason I couldn't sleep. She was out of the worst danger now, according to Grissom, and someone had been sent up there to keep an eye on her, in case the attacker came back. "No, she's not the reason... " The real reason was something I'd realized a few days before, but hadn't thought anything of until that day. Nick. The way he'd looked at me when I gave him a smile... That was what was keeping me from sleeping. I knew from the way he'd looked he was starting to develop an interest in me. Worse, I was beginning to think I was developing an interest in him...

"Is it someone else at work then?" she asked. She was determined to get an aswer, "One of the guys?" she added slyly.

I sighed, "Maybe..." I said slowly, "and maybe not."

The "Maybe not," didn't convince her, "Who?"

"Nobody..." I said, going to the fridge to get a drink. She waited until I was done with a glass of orange juice to pester me again. Finally I gave in, "Nick Stokes." She'd know who he was. She'd met all of my coworkers at one point or another.

"The Texan guy?"

I nodded, then said, "So how was school today?"

"Boring," she told me, "didn't have much work to do, since it's so close to summer break." We sat and talked for a while, about normal, every day things, until finally, my sleepyness caught up with me, and I had to go to bed again.

---------------------------------------

My cell phone woke me up, just after the sun went down. I tried to ignore it, at first, even went so far as to shove my head under a pillow. But no matter what, that damned ringing couldn't be blocked out. Finally, I gave up, and answered it.

"Brown," I grumbled, letting my displeasure of being awakened be known.

"Warrick," It was Grissom. He sounded odd... Like he was holding something back, "Get in to work... We've got a 419 at the hospital..."

Now I knew why he sounded the way he did... and I had to ask, "Any news on who it was?" _Not Sara, please not Sara..._

"None yet... One of the nurses called it in a few minutes ago. She didn't say who the DB was..."

It took me all of five minutes to get dressed and get out the door. Frankly, I was surprised I didn't get stopped on the way to the hospital... I certainly wasn't doing the speed limit. By the time I got to the crime scene, I was out of breath, from running. To my horror, the room that the woman at the front desk had directed me to was Sara's... Everyone was there, crowded outside. The door was shut tight.

"Well?"

I imagined they knew what I was asking. Catherine, at least did, "We don't know... we've been waiting for you to get here..."

Grissom opened the door, and all of us hesitantly looked inside. In the middle of the floor was the police officer that had been sent to keep an eye on Sara... But, Sara's bed was empty. The sheets were tangled, and pulled off the bed in some areas, the dull hospital blanket was on the floor in a tangled heap. The vase of flowers that had been sitting on the bedside table was now across the room, shattered, and various other items were knocked over, or broken. There had been a fight here.

I saw Grissom walk over to Sara's bed. He stared down at it, digging his fingernails in the the palm of one of his hands. He stayed like that for a long while, until, I saw, blood began to drip from his fingers, onto his shoe. Catherine brought him a rag to clean it off with, and the rest of us got to work on working the scene. The officer's throat had been slit, probably with the scalpal that lay a few feet away from him. He was lying on his stomach, and his nose appeared to be broken, judging from it's squashed appearence, and the ample amount of blood surrounding it. He'd been slammed into something before he died. 

Nick pointed out blood on the wall, that wasn't random spatter. Possibly where the victim's face had hit. There was blood in the edges of what remained of the vase, as well, it had hit someone. I excused my self from the somber group, and went back down to the front desk.

"Excuse me, Miss," I said, "But do you know who the last visitor to room 211 was?"

"Ummmm, you and Mr. Grissom, Sir... No one else has visited that room. No one else has even come in today."

"You wouldn't know who the last doctor in there was, would you?"

"That would have to be Dr. Grimwell, Mr. Brown. He was in charge of Miss Sidle's care, by his own request, I believe. But his shift ended an hour ago..."

I didn't stay behind to hear the reast of what she had to say, and got back to the scene. I told Grissom what the woman had told me, and he looked for a moment as if he had just realized something... For some reason I felt as if I had missed something importan, before I could say as much though, Grissom was calling Greg, at the lab.

"Greg? I need you to check something for me... See what you can find out about a Doctor Jonathan Grimwell. It's important."

"Why the Doc?" I asked as he snapped his cell phone shut.

"You'll see," was all he said about the matter, "I want you and Sofia to go and bring Adam Hopewell down to the PD... I want to find out a bit more about his missing brother..."

------------------------------

I checked up on the doctor, like Grissom had asked me too. What I was finding wasn't comforting. I was getting impatient, waiting for him to get done asking Mr. Hopewell questions, so I could tell him my news. Finally, I gave up on waiting, and interupted.

"Grissom? I, uh, need to talk to you... now."

He sighed, and got up from his seat, leaving a rather frightened looking Mr. Hopewell behind him, and came out into the hallway. "What, Greg?"

"Well, that blood from the vase was a match to the skin we got from Sara," I said, "and I did what you asked."

"And?"

"And it's not good news... You know Jonathan Hopewell disappeared a few years back, right? Well, Nick found a record of him in Los Angeles... With Archie's help I managed to, erm, 'accidently' find out what that was for... Turns out, it was a name change..."

"To Jonathan _Grim_well," Grissom stated. Then he added, "Should have known... name's so similiar... Went to medical school... Had that surgical mask pulled down over his neck..." I got the feeling that he was talking more to himself than to me, "I knew I recognized his voice..."

"Thank you, Greg. Did you get his adress?" I nodded, "Good... Go tell Catherine to see if she can get a search warrant for it, and then get everyone else together..." Without saying another word, he went back into the interogation room.

Moving as quickly as I could, I went about my tasks, The longer we took, the less chance we had of finding Sara... Alive anyway.

-------------------------

"What?" I asked, sure that this scientist or whatever he was, was pulling my leg, "That's not possible... My brother's gone."

"Which is what he wanted people to think," said the rather attractive blonde woman, who had accopanied one of the CSIs on both their visits to my home.

"Mr. Hopewell," said the scientist, Grissom I think he'd said his name was, "Your brother nearly killed someone close to me, and now he has her somewhere, either dead or alive. Any information would be helpful, believe me."

"Well," I said, feeling rather confused. "Before he went off to New York, he said he would find a way to get back at the ones responsible for putting Emily behind bars.,. Even if he had to disappear from the face of the earth to do it... I guess he did...Something else he said was that he wasn't going to kill anyone in the process either. He said he'd find a way yo make that person kill the one thing they loved most on their own. If you ask me, my brother was a sick son of a bitch. My sister wasn't much better... And there were times I wondered about those two... if you get my meaning."

The man nodded, "I think I do. But I don't know what he's thinking..." he was talking to himself now, "No one could get me to hurt Sara..."

"My brother has a talent for making people do the things he wants you to," I said. "Believe me."

---------------------------

"Got our warrant," I said, to the gathering in the break room, "Granted, I had to lie about the fact that we had a confirmed identity, but..."

"Oh well, Cath," said Nick, "it got us the warrant...Shall we go?"

Everyone else nodded. It was time to go get Sara.  
The home of Jonathan Grimwell was not a great one. Rather small, and not in the greatest neighbor hood. Though we didn't really expect an answer, Grissom and I pounded on the front door. No answer. So, plan b. Open the door on our own.

Surprisingly, it was unlocked. The inside was worse than the outside. The walls of the living room were covered in photos, post-it notes, and various other forms of paper. All of them were written on, though the writing was so messy it was hard to determine what they said. The photos were of various locations in Vegas, and Henderson, as well as some of Grissom, on the streets, or at a crime scene, The man had been obsessed. How he'd found time to keep up his job...

All of us split up into pairs, Nick with me. Warrick with Sophia, and Greg with Grissom.

In the end, the only thing we found, was a tape recorder. No sign of Sara anywhere. It was Sophia that played the tape.

"Hello, all," said the voice of the doctor, "No doubt you know who I am by now. But concealing my identity for long was not my intention. I don't want your question to be who, or why... I want it to be where. Where am I, and where is Sara? And when you figure it out, Grissom only comes to get her... Grissom only. That way, he can be the one to kill her..."

Another voice piped up in the background, Sara, "You're an idiot if you think that they'll actually-"

"Shut the fuck up, you bitch!" the doctor shouted, "You'll get your chance to talk in a god damn minute." There was a brief pause, before he continued. "If you haven't found where we are by midnight, I'll leave Sara here. Without the medical attention she needs, you can be sure she won't last long. Especially with all the desert critters out here that would love a good meal." There was a clattering sound, and then the doctor muttered something, and Sara spoke again.

"Don't listen to him, Grissom. You come alone and he'll kill you. I'd tell you where I am, but you probably know how bad of an idea that would be, so I'll just say this: I love you. And to everyone else, goodbye."

With that, the tape came to an end, leaving all of us in silence.

---------------------------------

okay, I know it may seem a bit early to reveal who it was, but like he said, the question is meant to be "where" not "who and why"


	6. Chapter 6

Alrighty then, Chapter six. Hope ya'll enjoy... I know I had fun writin this one, especially the ending of it.

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I stood there, saying nothing, as the tape played. I listened with what some might call indifference, but that was on the outside... In reality, I was trying to hold everything in. Trying not to look vunerable... That was one of my weaknesses: not wanting to appear weak. But as the tape came close to it's end, and I heard Sara say those three small words that I'd never said to her, I almost lost my control over my feelings. I squeezed my eyes shut, and rubbed my forehead, willing myself to keep control... if not for Sara, then for the rest of the team.

"I love you, Sara," I whispered, not knowing I'd said it aloud. But the way all the others' heads turned towards me, I knew they'd heard. Right then, I didn't care. "I want every inch of this place searched... and every item here processed... We've got six hours people... Let's make them count." I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.

And so, the race against the clock began... Not a single bit of the house was left unexamined. There were bare spots in the walls filled with pictures. My guess was that Jon had taken pictures of the place he'd taken Sara, down. So it was possible he'd missed something. All the better for us. The thing was, finding what he'd missed in time.

By the time we got done going over the house, and collecting all the things from it, we'd burned through two and a half of our six hours. I took it upon myself to go through every single photograph there was, and also every note... Eventually, though, I had to accept the help that Greg and Nick were constantly offering. Hodges was working on bits of rock and mold we'd found, around a pair of shoes, in one of the bedroom closets. Catherin, Warrick, and Sofia were still at the house making sure nothing had been missed.

"Hey, Grissom," said Hodges, inviting himself in.

I looked up from the notes I was reading, as did Greg and Warrick. "What?"

"Well, I got something off that rock..." he replied, "It's marble. A variety most commonly used in graveyards, or very old buildings. Didn't get much from the mold though. But the fact that it was even growing on the marble suggests that it came from somewhere not quite as dry as here... somewhere in the mountains near here is my guess."

"But there's no old cemetaries up there, is there?" said Nick, "None that he'd get away without being noticed in, anyway."

Right then, Greg dug a padlocked metal box out from amidst the papers. The box had been welded shut, even the padlock had been welded too it. And the padlock itself didn't look like it was going to open any time soon.  
------------------------------

"Okay... Are we sure that's everything?" I asked for the fifth time. I knew, cuz I'd kept track.

"The answer is the same as it was last four times you asked, Warrick," said Sofia. Appearently, she'd kept track too. "Yes, that's everything. There's not so much as a single speck of dust left in this place that hasn't been checked."

"Well, that one floating by your head might have gotten away from you, Sofia," Catherine said, as she walked by. Sofia gave her a 'don't encourage him' look, before Cath continued. "Warrick, that's everything... Let's get back to the lab, okay?"

I nodded, and grabbed my stuff. Back to the lab it was... Maybe the others had found something by then. I certainly hoped so. All we'd found was a photo of an old moldy tombstone. On the back was written: _Where my heart lies dead, and broken._

---------------------------------

Dark, cold, and outdoors. That was all I could tell about my surroundings right then. My vision was all foggy... After he'd recorded that tape, the sleaze-ball of a doctor had drugged me or something, 'cuz I couldn't even move. All my limbs felt like rubber... When it came to trying to move them anyway. When I didn't they just hurt like hell. The scum that called himself a man was dragging me by my hands across moist soil... Which meant we weren't in the desert anymore...Mountains maybe... only place within range of Vegas, to have gotten there so fast. It had only been and hour's drive. Though I had been out of it almost comepletely when we'd arrived. And my captor had woken me up inside a small shed.

When he'd left, to take that tape back into to Vegas, I'd though about trying to leave, but that was when I'd found I couldn't move. When he'd come back, he'd opened the shed door, grabbed me, and started dragging me through the dirt. Finally, he stopped dragging me. I barely kept from sighing in relief. My whole body was screaming by now from the rough handling. I felt him lift me up some, and prop me against something. My vision was clearing now at least. I turned my head to see what was going on, and I found that I was set up against a gravestone. Metal rings had been fastened to the sides of it. To those rings where fastened handcuffs. Into which my hands went.

"That ought to hold you, until Grissom shows up," he said in a self satisfied way.

"He won't be coming," I spat, with more bravery than I felt. "He's smarter than that."

"Oh you think so?" said the doctor, "I think when it comes to his precious, beautiful, Sara," he paused a moment to twist a lock of my hair. "he'll come as fast as is possible... I've been watching you two for a very long time. I know he'll come to try and save you. Even if it costs him his life."

I knew that he was right... But still, I was actually hoping that Grissom would do the one thing I'd always hated him for doing: forget me. If I thought that he would come with the others, I wouldn't be worried... but I knew he wouldn't. He'd come alone, in order to try and protect me. When in reality, it would be the worst thing he could do, for himself, and me. He'd end up dead.

Appearently the asshat kneeling in front of me knew what I was thinking, "Oh don't worry, Sara. I'm not going to kill him... Even if he doesn't follow my instructions. It's only you and I that are going to die. Only you, if they don't get here in approximately three hours. But I have the feeling they'll find us. And your knight in shining armor is going to be the one to kill us both. I'll see to that."

I turned my face away from him, so that he couldn't see the tears that were starting to fill up my eyes... And for no good reason, too. I hated crying. But, he grabbed my chin, and made me look at him. To avoid doing so, I squeezed my eyes shut.

"No need to cry," he said with wicked amusement, "At least _he _won't be dead... Well not at first anyway. Though I think after losing first your kid, then you..." he drew his finger across his throat.

"You knew?" I hissed.

"I told you I'd been watching you Sara... For months. I'm a doctor... I knew your symptoms from the beginning. Even if you were too much of a coward to admit it to yourself."

I hung my head... He was right. I had been a coward. And now, there was nothing to be done about it. _Grissom... if you're going to get here, get here quick, and fill this fucker with all the lead you possibly can...Just for being right._

--------------------------

I was beginning to get very frustrated with that dratted box. I was having trouble getting the it open. None of us wanted to damage it, or anything that might be in it, so out ways of getting it open were limited. _You know what... To hell with it... I'm gonna get this thing open, damamge or no._ I thought. Of the various tools that had been gathered to get it open, the hacksaw was one I hadn't used yet. So, to sawing at the welded parts of the box I went.

I was interupted when I got about halfway around the whole box, when everyone crowded into the room. Grissom gave me an odd when he saw what I was doing, "I thought you'd already tried that method, Greg..."

"No, " I said, not stopping, "Nick tried it, put the tiniest scratch in it. and turned the job over to me, when Warrick got back...And then I went on to try other methods."

"Right," was all he said to me. He turned to the others, "What've we got so far?"

"Well, rock, from a gravestone, and mold... Which according to Hodges means it came from the nearby mountains..." said Nick.

"We've got this photo, that says 'where my heart lies dead and broken' " said Warrick. "Ask me, this guy had an 'unhealthy' obessesion with his sister."

They continued on for a long time about what they'd found, while I remained silent... Well, as silent as it is possible to be when you're using a hacksaw. Finally, the box came open, and I picked up the small book that it held. On it, written in the same hand as all the notes, were the words "Vengence is Sweet". I flipped through it, and still no one noticed, they were too busy discussing possible locations. The book was a journal.

"And now," I said, cutting into the 'what do we know' conversation, "We have the guy's journal."

I handed it to Grissom, who was already reaching for it, "Okay okay, don't get so grabby..." I said, as he flipped through it.

He got to the last page, read it, then snapped the small book shut... "Is Adam Hopewell still here? I think I have another question for him..."

-----------------------------

The man was tapping the face of his watch now, as he paced in front of me, "Looks like Grissom's running out of time... " he stopped moving and stared down at me. I stared right back up, meeting his craze-filled grey eyes with my own determined brown ones. "Perhaps all the animals out here will get a meal after all... I'm sure you'll make a rather... delicious dinner." He knelt down in front of me, as he had done several times in the past hour. The look he gave me then was more frightening than the fact that I was most likely going to die. They way his eyes travelled over my body was...Unsettling. It felt like he could see right through the hospital gown I was wearing.

"But... he still has and hour and a half left. So, all the little beasties will have to wait for their meal."

"You're crazy," I muttered. I hadn't meant for him to hear, but he did.

"No... No, I'm heartbroken, Sara... There's a difference," he replied, "My sister Emily, was innocent. She never murdered anyone... and then Grissom found _circumstancial _evidence that she had been at the scene... that she had been with that kid when he died. And she couldn't take prison...

She killed herself, Sara, did you know that? Ran herself headfirst into a wall... right in front of me. And you helped on that case too... I know you did. I want you, to die, like Emily died... And I want Grissom to suffer like I have, knowing that the one thing he loves is gone, forever, and he'll never get it back. Never get a second chance. _That_ is why you're going to die tonight Sara Sidle, one way, or another."

Without another word, he straightened, and stalked off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

----------------------------------

_Revenge..._

_The word that once held no meaning for me is now my whole life. It has consumed me. I have thought of nothing else in six years. And now, that one word is all I have.  
All I have, along with memories of the one I must take revenge for._

_Emily._

_My beautiful, charming, caring, baby sister. I can almost see her face sometimes at night... But then, the happy memory is replaced by that bloody scene in the prison... Gorgeous Emily's head, caved in, from the wall she ran herself into... Her scream as she charged at that blank white wall still haunts my dreams. And when it gets too quiet in the house, or at work, I hear it still, ringing in my ears. Never ceasing, driving me insane. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to kill myself as she did. Maybe then I could escape._

_But no... Something keeps me from doing it. That need for revenge... I won't be able to die, until I've caused that man to suffer as much as I have the past years. And I know just how to do it now. I've seen him with that woman. She reminds me of Emily, sometimes... But that doesn't matter... What matters is, he loves her. I can see it. He loves her as much, or maybe even more than I loved Emily. I've gotten their routine down now, and I know exactly what I'm going to do._

_It wouldn't have taken so long, but I wanted to watch for a while, and make sure that she wasn't just some brief fling... then my plan would have been ruined_

_But now I know._

_And now, I can finally repay him, for what he did to my sister, and what he did to me... For how he made both of us suffer. For how Emily became weaker and weaker all the time in that hell... And for how my brother looked at me, until the day I decided to leave. The look that said I was no longer wanted with him, or his family... The look that said I never had been in the first place._

_It's all his fault. All of it._

_And now, it is time to start my plans. I'll seal this up, and begin... Within forty-eight hours, Grissom's precious Sara will be layed to rest, where Emily was, so long ago. And I will finally be free._

_Jon Hopewell/Jonathan Grimwell_

What I had read stunned me, but I tried not to let it show... I snapped the book shut, and adressed the others around me.

"Is Adam Hopewell still here? I think I have another question for him..."

I hoped he was...

Time was running out.

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Thoughts?


	7. Chapter 7

Alrighty then... Chappie 7... I'm sorry to say that this is the last chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.

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"My sister is buried in the Mountains, about a mile from the old lodge up there... It was something Jon wanted... He insisted she be buried up there in the trees, because she hated the desert. No one ever goes up there anymore, but you should be able to find it," Adam Hopewell concluded. "And I strongly suggest you surprise Jon... Otherwise he'll get the jump on you."

"We'll be careful," said Sofia, as I rose from my seat. I walked out of the room, intent on getting the team ready to go. I saw Brass heading for me.

"Gil!" he said. "What the hell has been going on? I went to see Sara, and they said something about a homicide in her room, but they wouldn't tell me any more than that..."

"Sara's gone, Jim," I said, "our perp got her... He was one of the doctors. We're pretty sure we know where he took her though. And we've got and hour to get there."

He looked flabbergasted by the flood of news for a moment. He had to let it all sink in before he could speak, "I'm going with you..." I had figured that. And I nodded. I wasn't going alone. I knew that if I did go alone, Grimwell would kill me and Sara... With the others... Maybe if he was out numbered, he'd give up. Maybe.

It took no more than a few minutes to get the team assembled. It was decided that we were all going. And fast... The drive to the mountains seemed to take an eternity. And it was tense. Everyone was on pins and needles. Myself included.

There was the old lodge that Adam had mentioned... So only a mile or so left to go. At half a mile, I had the cars stop... Didn't want to go to close with everyone there. I got out on my own... We had worked all this out. I would go ahead alone, and everyone else would follow. And if trouble began, they'd make their presence know.

I hoped that this plan was going to work...

--------------------------------

I was slumped forward, held up only by the handcuffs that bound me to the gravestone, when my captor suddenly cocked his head is if he had heard something. Without warning, he unlocked the cuffs, and pulled me up. I couldn't stand, so he had to hold me up, but I didn't care. His reaction could only mean one thing... someone was here.The name was on my lips, before I even knew it, "Grissom..."

"Oh yes, My pretty," said the doc, "I think it's him... with one minute to spare."

I would have struggled to get away from the man, since he didn't seem to have a weapon, if I could have used my legs. But unfortunately, they were still too wobbly to make it very far. Instead, I let him direct me to where he wanted me to go, and waited. Either I would get out of this or I wouldn't. It was all up to Grissom now. I saw him come out of the darkness, approaching slowly... and alone. Damn it! Oh well. I hoped he knew what he was doing. If not, I wasn't walking away from this.

"Grissom!" I was unable to stop myself from crying when he finally stopped, a few yards from me, and the doc.

"Sara, it's gonna be okay," he said, sounding sure of himself. But I could see the worry in his eyes. He was putting a brave face on for the doc.

"No, not for her it's not," said the man holding me, "I already told her, she's dying tonight, one way or another. And you'll be the one to kill her."

"Jon..." said Grissom, voice calm, "do you really think you're going to get me to hurt her in any way?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do... By letting Sara make the choice." said Jon, "Sara, either Grissom takes that gun of his and shoot you, or I'll take you, and torture you..." he paused for effect, and the said right in my ear, in a voice that sent chills down my spine, "and _rape you_, Sara... I could do it... It would be so easy. I wouldn't even have to tie you up..." He didn't even seem to know Grissom was there anymore... I felt his hand slide in the back o my gown, and move to my breasts. I couldn't help it, I started shaking. Terror, from the very idea shook my body, while pain from the pressure of his hand on my tender, bruised flesh made me want to cry.

"Stop!" Grissom nearly shouted. He was angry now. I could see it... The hand withdrew, and the relief that washed over me was enough to make me momentarily go limp. My captor held me up. "Keep your hands off of her," Grissom spat, "Or you're going to wish that you had never been born."

Hearing Grissom threaten someone was certainly a foreign thing to me, but I'd have to deal with that later. "Oh?" Jon scoffed, "and how are you going to make me wish that any more than I already do?"

"Like this," said Griss, bitterly. He whistled one short note, and that's when I saw the others.

------------------------------

I saw the shock in Grimwell's eyes. He hadn't expected me to try and trick him, obviously. He'd expected me to come alone, or bring everyone else in plain sight. Too bad for him that i could be really sneaky. I had been planning on trying to reason with him some more, before I called the others... But when he'd touched Sara... The anger was hard to keep under control. Though it was as much my anger at him, as it was at seeing the way Sara had trembled, and gramced. 

"Your grand plan failed, Jon," I said, "You didn't think this through very well... You got sloppy."

"It makes no difference to me, if I die or not," said Grimwell, " as long as she goes with me..." I saw his hand go up to Sara's throat, and tighten. Sara gasped for air, as Grimwell's grip got tighter and tighter. None of us could shoot at him, not without risking hitting Sara. And to tackle him wouldn't be a good idea. My mind began to race for a solution. I almost had one, when I heard the gunshot, and saw both Sara and Grimwell drop to the ground.

I didn't care that there was a possibilty that he was still alive, I ran to Sara. Taking note that it was Sofia, who'd fired. Grimwell was alive... Sofia had managed to just hit the side of his throat. But it had been enough to knock him back. I was concerned with Sara though. I rolled her over onto her back, and found that she wasn't breathing. I did the only thing I could. CPR. Though I knew I had to be careful, with her injuries. Over and over again I tried to get her to breath. I took no notice of Warrick and Catherine who pulled Grimwell to his feet. I did notice the smug look he wore on his face though.

"come on, Sara, breathe! Breathe dammit!" I was aware of the crowd that was gathering around me, "Come on, Honey, breathe, please. Please... Come on Sara don't give up on me!"

------------------------------

I sat i the police interogation room, a bandage around my neck, where that bitch of a cop's bullet had struck me. I was wondering if Sara was alive... She hadn't been breathing when they'd taken me away... The very though made me start to laugh. The cops looked at me weird, but I didn't care. I just laughed and laughed. It may not have gone as planned, but it had worked out in the end. Grissom was right, I hadn't planned it well enough, hadn't taken into account his unwillingness to hurt anyone, hadn't taken into account his cleverness. But it had worked, in a manner of speaking, and that was all that was needed.

I continued to laugh, until I fell out of my chair. I felt the cops' eyes on me, but I still rolled on the floor laughing. When I finally stopped, the two dragged me to my feet, and threw me back into my chair. I just stared at them, trying to unnerve them. I knew I was comepletely crazy by now, and I didn't care... I had been crazy for a long time... now was when it was showing.

A solem faced Gil Grissom came into the room, holding a stack of papers. "She's dead isn't she?' I cackled, supressing more laughs. "She's dead she's dead she's dead!" I chanted in a singsong voice. He didn't answer.

"Jonathan Grimwell, you have forgone your right to a lawyer?"

I nodded.

"Very well," he spoke in an icy tone, "You are under arrest for-"

I cut him off, "I know the charges, I don't need to be told them." I had to supress another laugh.

"Fine," said Grissom, "Guys, take him away."

I couldn't help my grin. And I couldn't help what I muttered to Grissom as I walked by him, "You know when I copped a feel? That was the last time anyone touched her... Just think... She died with that still on her mind.

I never even saw him draw back his fist. But I certainly felt it hit the side of my face. "That's for Sara, you son of a bitch," I heard him hiss. I noticed that the cops were saying nothing about him hitting me. Not that it mattered to me. I had what I wanted. I had everything I wanted... And soon, I'd be with Emily again...

---------------------------

I watched as Grimwell was led away, and as Grissom came out of the interogation room, rubbing his knuckles. "Tell me you hit him _really _hard, " I said.

"I did, Nicky... I did," Griss replied, and headed for his office. He came back out a moment later. "Shift's over... I think I'll go-"

"I already know," I cut him off. Everyone knew where he'd be going. What he'd be doing. "We'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said, though there was something there that said he wanted to take the next few days off. But I wouldn't blame him for that. None of us could. "You make sure every one else goes home, No one's gotten enough sleep..."

He left the building, and I went to round up everyone else to tell the the boss' orders.

------------------------------

One Month Later...

I sat at the break room table, enjoying my lunch, when Nick walked in. Greg was sitting next to me, reading something. Nick looked at the title of the book, and said,

"you know, I read that book... the main character, what's his name? Dick? Total idiot."

"Show Dick some respect!" said Greg, not looking up from the book.

"Alright Bender," Nick replied.

"If I'm Bender, you're the Neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie, Brian," Greg retorted.

I hid a smile as I stood, and said to both of the, "You two keep it up, and I'll play the part of Vernon, and give you both detentions."

"Well," said Greg, still not looking up from the book, "I'm free next saturday, but beyond that, I'm gonna have to check my schedule."

Nick snorted into the glass of water he was drinking, and I heard a laugh from the door. Catherine. She threw a smile Nick's way, which was returned. "Afternon, Griss," she said to me, "Go take a look out in the hall."

confused, I did as she'd said.

-----------------------

I stood in the hallway, waiting... Catherine had said she'd send him out there... I hadn't told anyone I was coming... I had wanted to surprise everyone. Two heads came out of the break room at the same time, and I heard to voices say my name at exactly the same time.

"Sara!"

The next thing I knew, I was in a tangle of people. I managed to get free, eventually. "Why didn't you tell me you were being let out today?" Grissom asked, as I hugged him properly. And since trying to follow our rules was pointless now, I kissed him too. I didn't get the chance to answer, before Greg had hold of me. He did't let go until Nick came along to remind him that people do need to breath. I was thankful for Nick's help.

As it turned out, I didn't get to answer Grissom until after hugs had been traded all around. "I wanted to surprise you," I explained, "though, I think I should have warned someone, so I didn't get bombarded like this..." I paused, and looked back down the hall, and waved at who I saw there, 'Hey, Brass! Miss me?"

"Me? Miss you?" he said, appraoching me, and giving me a quick hug, "Never."

"I'll remember that next tim you're gone for a while," I told him, and let Grissom pull me back to lean against him, as we all caught up on things that had taken place. Since it was a fairly slow day, we had a long time to talk, and goof off. It felt good to be out of the hospital, finally, and to just be able to talk with my friends...My family, really, is what they were, without those "are you okay?" looks I got when they spoke with me at the hospital. Nice to be able to just talk about mundane things, like the weather, or a tv show we'd all seen. We all stood there, in the middle of the hall, just enjoying the evening. And for once, when Grissom said that the shift was over, no one objected to going home.

I certainly wasn't going to. Something in the way my boss was looking at me told me that I was going to enjoy being home that night.

As Grissom drove, he asked, "You want to go home, or not?"

"Home," I said, and saw a brief flash of disappointment cross his face, before I finished with, "Is with you... "

He looked at me, and the mischevious smile that formed on his lips made me glad of my answer. 

----------------------

Nick, as he had several times before, gave me a ride home. As I got out of the car, and waved to Lindsay, who was heading for the school bus, Nick stopped me, "Hey, Cath, wait a sec,"

"What's up?"

"Um... Well, I was wonderin', if you'd be interested in goin' t' dinner tomorrow night.. With me."

"I thought you'd never ask," I replied with a grin, "I'll see you tomorrow night, before shift starts."

He smiled back at me, nodded, and waved. I shut the car door, and walked up to my house, feeling exetremely happy. Things were gonna get better... I could feel it.

-----------------------

Epilogue

Jonathan Grimwell was charged with the murder of Mark Holly, Sara's body guard, attempted murder, and kidnapping, and found guilty on all charges. Sara had been reluctant to go to the trial, which had bee held off until she recovered, but her friend's had managed to convince her to attend. And in the end, she was glad she had. Though even if they hadn't gotten anything out of her, the jury would have found him guilty, but it felt good to tell somebody what had happened.

She hadn't liked the way that Grimwell had stared at her and Grissom throughout the trial. The look he wore on his face was one of pure hatred. It promised that should he ever get out of prison, neither of them would be safe... But even that worry was gotten rid of when he was given the death penalty. Then he had panicked... Saying he couldn't die until he'd had revenge. He was ignored. But Sara hadn't wanted to stay any longer than necessary. She and Grissom had left the moment the Jury's verdict was given.

After their shift was over, early that morning, they sat together on the couch of what was now their house. Sara leaning back against Grissom, with his arms around her, and his lips pressed against her hair. They just sat there, thinking. It wasn't a time for words then. It was a time for thinking. Until, that was, Sara had suddenly sprung up, and raced for the bathroom. Grissom had found her bent over the toilet, when he got up to follow her. They traded knowing looks... Both knew what that meant.

After that morning, they sat like that together every morning after work, and talked. Tried to figure out what they were going to do. But neither was overly concerned... More like content, to be able to just sit there, and enjoy an hour of peace, and talking before retiring.

Despite the knowledge of future problems, everything seemed all right...And that was enough. 

-----------------------------------

Enjoy it?

I am already working on another story... It will be called "The Puzzle Master" And I'll have it up within a week or so, as I already have chapter 1 comeplete and I'm workin on Chap. 2. 

Here's a preview of it, The prologue:

/Prologue:

It was on what had started out as a perfectly normal night, for the graveyard shift, that the worlds of seven people came crashing down around them. Each received a phone call that would be the start of a long and terrible ordeal. The start of something that would scar all of them, and their loved ones, for ever.

And it was all as the man who called himself "The Puzzle master" had planned. \\

Be looking for it!


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